Tim Cleary
Chief Strategy Officer
Tim is responsible for long-term strategy and planning, cross-functional company initiatives, corporate development, market intelligence, and data and analytics.
Before joining Risepoint, Tim served as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Operations at InVision, held leadership roles at Zume and CA Technologies, and was a principal at the global consulting firm Oliver Wyman.
Tim holds an MBA from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, a Master of International Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Washington and Lee University. Outside of work, he loves to travel, watch live music and sports, and do overly elaborate projects with his kids.
What traits do you admire in a leader?
The best leaders adapt their tactics, style and communication to bring out the best in individuals around them. I admire those who are highly observant, flexible and humble. They develop teams and individuals who are motivated to grow and deliver impact.
What are your core values?
I try to approach all interactions with empathy and openness. At a prior company, we had a principle of “candor with compassion,” to which I connected deeply because I believe it is essential for building trust. I also embrace a learning mindset and try to act and think with humility. I never assume that I have all the answers and know that some of my best work and thinking only emerged thanks to collaboration and interaction with other people.
What is your Risepoint moment?
One moment that stands out as a true “before/after” milestone came at age 24, opening the mail to find a manila folder containing my first ever passport. I’d gone and applied for my passport on a whim – I had no travel plans, nor available budget for such an indulgence, but I’d grown increasingly convinced that expanding my limited horizons simply had to be in my future at some point, and I wanted to be ready.
Holding that passport in my hands was instantly empowering and inspiring. I began to imagine the trips I might take, and most importantly, from that day forward I began to put $5-10 a week into a “travel budget” which I guarded more closely than my food and rent budget. In the years since, I’ve been lucky to experience the world beyond the U.S. borders, including several stretches working overseas. I even met my wife while we were both working far from our home countries. And we still put away that weekly travel budget...
Holding that passport in my hands was instantly empowering and inspiring. I began to imagine the trips I might take, and most importantly, from that day forward I began to put $5-10 a week into a “travel budget” which I guarded more closely than my food and rent budget. In the years since, I’ve been lucky to experience the world beyond the U.S. borders, including several stretches working overseas. I even met my wife while we were both working far from our home countries. And we still put away that weekly travel budget...
